Last movie watched...

[Jim_Campbell]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes. No idea why I didn't see it when it came out, but that was a really, REALLY good movie. Very smart, very exciting, but retaining real emotional heft. Going to see the new one on Sunday.

Cheers

Jim

[JamesC]

The Temple of Doom game had a sound effect that we were absolutely convinced was one of the Thuggee Guards saying "Body-poppin's good for you!". My friend and I still sometimes say that to each other even now, for giggles.

Also, if anything hits us, or knocks us, we HAVE to squeal "ARGH, I've been hit! (deep voice) by the Infanto-Ray!". We are married men in our mid-forties.

SBT

Ha ha, I can't remember them saying that but we did try to whip the baddies in the nuts where possible.
It was a hard game but it captured the feel of the film really well. The isometric view reminds me of the Return of the Jedi game which came out the following year I think (and was also rock hard).



And, yes, I'm a also a big fan of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I haven't seen the new one yet either but I may wait for the Blu Ray. I don't enjoy the cinema as much as I used to, I often have to tell people to be quiet, or move, or have to put up with someone's phone light down at the front. I actually get a bit anxious as people come in and I can't help trying to spot ones that I think are going to be trouble.

[Tiplodocus]

DOTPOTP as it says on the ticket or rather DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.

Really enjoyed this. It's almost needless to say that the special effects are outstanding these days but my goodness, the special effects were outstanding.  Sirkis and his animators give you an utterly convincing Caesar (apart from the usual movie trope of [spoiler]superhuman ability to heal from life threatening injuries[/spoiler])

Story took a couple of turns I wasn't expecting possibly because other than the original, I'm not really au fait with Apes movies ([spoiler]I expected the damned filthy  humans to be the aggressors[/spoiler]).

[Buttonman]

Doing a Steve McQueen retrospective after a friend gave me a biography of him which I enjoyed. Came across as a right dick who was jealous of Paul Newman and made many bad film choices with the turkeys far outweighing the hits.

He has about 25 big screen credits and in my favoured OCD style I shall watch them all.

First up is 'The Sand Pebbles' which is the only McQueen film on US Netflix where my DNS is presently set. It was Steve's only Oscar nomination, and he didn't win. Set in 1920's revolutionary China Steve is an engineer on a gun boat in a 3 hour epic that demands plenty of the viewer. I got to the end over two nights and while it was OK I could have done with a trimmed down 90 minute version. Dickie Attenborough offers feeble support as his pal Frenchie and there is plenty of pointless chatter and noble sacrifice. Steve dies about 30 seconds before the film ends possibly due to losing the will to live.

I then sat through 'The Towering Inferno' which has to be one of the worst films ever made. You've probably seen bits of it so I won't bore you with the plot but a room full of oily rags and OJ Simpson running security - what did they expect would happen! McQueen is terrible as the wiry fire chief and he tries to put down Paul Newman's architect at every turn. Only redeeming feature is Richard Chamberlain's panicky idiot lounge lizard. Another near 3 hours slog!

Anyone got a favourite Steve McQueen film that isn't 'The Great escape'?

[Greg M.]

Anyone got a favourite Steve McQueen film that isn't 'The Great escape'?

I really like his performance in the 'The War Lover' - his WWII bomber-pilot character is a monstrous arsehole of the highest order, and McQueen plays him with antagonistic brilliance.

[JamesC]

I like The Magnificent Seven but it isn't as good as The a Great Escape.
Papillon is supposed to be really good but it's always on TV really late and has a really long and boring opening so I've never actually sat through it.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I then sat through 'The Towering Inferno' which has to be one of the worst films ever made.

Your mouth is full of wrong.

[von Boom]

For Steve McQueen I'd go with Bullitt, Papillon, Tom Horn, and of course The Magnificent Seven. And for a real eye roller The Blob.

Oops. James beat me.

[I, Cosh]

Anyone got a favourite Steve McQueen film that isn't 'The Great escape'?

Magnificent 7 is miles better than The Great Escape but they're both really about the ensemble rather than one man. Given his reputation, it's surprising that he's nowhere near the coolest guy in either film. I mean he's fourth coolest at best in Magnificent 7 and even Gordon Jackson is cooler in TGE and he was a butler!

The Blob?

I'm sure you'll enjoy hissing poker advice during The Cincinatti Kid anyway.

[JohnMcF]

The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, and Papillon would be my choice.

[Buttonman]

I'm on The Kid this afternoon - quiet at the back. I've seen it before and I know it ends with a straight flush beating a full house which is as far fetched statistically as you can get, but you can't have the big denouement being a pair of deuces beating Ace high.

I'm looking forward to the career suicide of 'An Enemy of the People' which is based on an Ibsen play and sees Steve as wild bearded environmentalist - not so much box office gold as failed to be released.

Been watching Bullett in stages as the wife wanted to watch and then gets tired half way through - quite like the style and the soundtrack but the car chase wasn't all that great - nice sleazy Robert Vaughn though - criminally underused in 'Inferno'!

[Professor Bear]

Never really got the appeal of McQueen for some reason (always preferred Escape To Victory over The Great Escape), but I liked the story about how - when they were making Towering Inferno - because he was taller than Paul Newman, Newman would stand on a small pile of sand to appear similar in height to McQueen, so McQueen would kick the sand away as they spoke.

Enemy of the People is a decent small-town melodrama, but suicidally anti-American in its political sentiment, which is likely why it's more fascinating than it is good.  Push came to shove, it's probably my favorite McQueen flick in a toss-up with The Blob.

[Frank]

Never really got the appeal of McQueen for some reason (always preferred Escape To Victory over The Great Escape), but I liked the story about how - when they were making Towering Inferno - because he was taller than Paul Newman, Newman would stand on a small pile of sand to appear similar in height to McQueen, so McQueen would kick the sand away as they spoke.

You're thinking of Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven (where would Newman have found sand in a skyscraper?). McQueen ruins all Brynner's speeches by fiddling with his hat in a distracting manner and pretending to take sightings using the sun as a guide too. McQueen's reasoning was that even though Brynner was already a big star and supposed to be the hero of the movie, if he was always just doing stuff in the back of shot and drawing attention to himself, then he would be the guy everyone remembered and was looking out for when the action scenes began.

Worked too, because - like others above - I've always been a bit agnostic about McQueen as a personality, but that role was the launchpad that allowed him to be pretty good in some really good films. I'm upvoting Papillon, because I like films about guys in sadistic prisons (Brubaker, Shawshank, Clint in Alcatraz, No Escape, etc) almost as much as I enjoy movies about gladiators and musicals starring Liza and Babs.

[Daveycandlish]

I *like* Towering Inferno.
Also love Magnificent Seven but James Coburn is way cooler than McQueen.
Best thing about Bullit is the soundtrack (and maybe his car) but the Thomas Crown Affair is still pretty cool (despite the ridiculous flirty chess game he plays with Faye Dunaway)

[JOE SOAP]

I tend to prefer the other Steve McQueen films -not the other Steve McQueen- like The Cincinatti Kid, Bullit, and sometimes even The Getaway. He's best when he's not saying much.